what he said. so, from all the sense what he said. so, from my point of view, it is not correct. as far as the novichok, since the question was asked, yesterday, there was a speech at the opc w meeting and russian experts, —— a russian expat, —— expert, and you can get his beach, but i'lljust make if you references from that statement. he said that the first mentioning of this novichok was unavailable for the broad access that was made in the broad access that was made in the united states in 1995. 1995 there was a report of a centre. that was the first mentioning. then,

there was the second edition. it is called handbook of chemical and biological warfare agents. this is the second edition, 2007. i see that you are aware of them. and, there was a clear description of everything that we had. but then, in 2008, the former... and then immigrated to the united states in 1992, and he wrote a book and state secrets and all these things, and he mentioned all be subject —— all of these substances, so, this is the, some kind of umbrella of these substances. that could be produced under the roof of the novichok. but, what is interesting, and please

read... i'm not into take your time, please read the summary of the yesterday's briefing of the official representative of russia, and she was posing the question, —— posed the question, and she gave two pages illustration of the instructions that we were given by hillary clinton to the american delegation and australian meeting not to discuss the novel chocolate with some others. so, that must be quite an interesting meeting. —— not that —— novichok. this isjust one that the other brings you to the sources of novichok. i am not blaming anything, and is bringing the facts. we will pull away from that news

conference with the russian ambassador because in the last few seconds the met police have issued a statement on behalf of yulia skripal, the first time we have heard directly from her, from her hospital bed. it says, and i will read it exactly. statement on behalf of yulia skripal, aged 33 years. "i woke up over a week ago now and i am glad to see my strength is growing daily. iam glad to see my strength is growing daily. i am gratefulfor the interest in me and the many messages of goodwill i have received. i have many people to thank for my recovery and would especially like to mention the people of salisbury that came to my aid when my father and i were incapacitated. further than that, my aid when my father and i were incapacitated. furtherthan that, i would like to thank the staff at salisbury district hospital for their care and professionalism. "i am sure you'll appreciate the entire

episode is somewhat disorientating, andi episode is somewhat disorientating, and i hope you will respect my privacy and that of my family during the period of my convalescence." that is a statement from yulia skripal, released through police, who are obviously talking to her at salisbury district hospital. that is as far as we know the first contact she has made with the outside world. since the attack, a month ago. of course it comes on top of that continuing controversy over that reporter phone call with the russian tv station. let's return to the russian ambassador and we will pick up russian ambassador and we will pick up on all of these threads in just a moment... i will tell you i am happy--- moment... i will tell you i am happy... because you don't believe it, and me as well. these are just regular diplomats, as you know, writing reviews about the policy and all these things. why are the people still thinking all the time that the russians are being spies? i think it

is in britain people like all the stories. sergei skripal was actually an m16 spy, but in the british press he was described as a russian spy. quite an interesting statement. so basically, for us, all of the expulsions, this isjust a demonstration of the solidarity with britain, this is first, and secondly, to fill the gap in the absence of the evidence. because, you know, we don't have evidence, or presentable evidence. to do that you need something big and for that you need something big and for that you need to engage the others in order to condemn somebody, so that is exactly what happened with the so—called western bloc countries. any comments on the foreign minister, the smear campaign? the smearcampaign, minister, the smear campaign? the

smear campaign, what is this? i am in britain, not canada. don't forget. relating to justin trudeau's comments yesterday?” forget. relating to justin trudeau's comments yesterday? i didn't see them. i know he is the foreign minister, but what did he say, i didn't see them... the prime minister linked the decision to expel these four russian individuals to the 2017 smear campaign, disinformation campaign, against the foreign minister —— against the woman attacked for having her grandfather linked to nazi newspapers. you are not behind this... i don't have any commands. from my point of view that decision is not supported by any common sense. i am quite sure our embassy in ottawa will definitely give you the right answers to this, the very

specific details. i didn't see the statement. ‘s so for me it is very difficult to comment, sorry about that. loader, please? —— louder. speaking about conspiracy, and my question is what is the state of play of the russian institutions where that came from... i know you don't have access to the samples but what are you doing... nothing to investigate, because we don't have any facts, we don't have any access, we don't have any evidence. what to investigate? just the statements of the press? it is not enough. you

mentioned the majority of the world does not back the british case. you only got six votes. isn't russia feeling somewhat isolated ? only got six votes. isn't russia feeling somewhat isolated? of course not! six votes in favour of the decision, and 17 which didn't support, so altogether it is 23. a very simple code. on the one hand you have 15 who voted against, and this is nato and eu countries, so when i am talking about the whole world, that is the whole world. please. from france. ambassador, your request for a joint investigation... actually there is an investigation

by the international organisation of which you are a member. to what extent do you trust the final result, the outcome of the investigation next week? what will happen with this investigation, blame, in any case, directly or indirectly? it is very simple. we have to check it, check the results. there will be further investigations, or whether there will be any other activity, we will wa nt to will be any other activity, we will want to be part of that, very simple. about the outcome of the vote on the investigation... but the investigation is not... no, i said it was, let's see, the vote on the draft decision, to investigate. there is a big difference. do you see the point? will you accept

outcome of the investigation? listen, let's first investigate, then we will see. a little bit louder? ambassador, you spoke extensively about the lack of communication with russia in the situation and you describe where we are now is the lowest point... do you think there is a positive long—term outcome to all this, these countries eventually moving forward with corporation, with russia feeling it is not being included?” think the only positive way is to cooperate and as soon as we get the full quart race in —— the full

cooperation and establish the truth, together, by the way, because this is the british and the russian citizens. we need this investigation. from my point of view, this will be the best results and best outcome. thank you, a master. the daily telegraph. —— thank you, ambassador. the flight from moscow to london last week, when the plane was searched you protested. could you throw some more light on that? are you aware if that was from a request from the british authority, if there was such a request, and i'm interested in you seeing nothing originated in the united states... don't twist my words. i said about the references, in the scientific research. i didn't say exactly what you are saying now.

referring to the 1992 description of how he was poisoned in the lab... who was that? you are aware of this... you're sounding really very good, you not! what was the year? 1982. don't expect me to remember all of the stuff? you describe in detail how he worked on this programme “— detail how he worked on this programme “1992. there's also the case of the death... in 1995, which was also attributed to novichok. so i wonder if you could respond to that. just wait, i have a good memory but not with so many things.

in this case, we were blamed by the british government that we had so many versions british government that we had so many versions on british government that we had so many versions on the tv of the different stories. every russian expert is telling his own story, and this is one of the stories said on russian tv. could you imagine, you know, if we remembered all the stories said on the bbc or maybe in your newspaper dating back to 1992-5, your newspaper dating back to 1992—5, so don't expect the ambassador to remember all those things. but if you put to me in a written form your question, i promise i will answer it, no problem. for me, it isjust very difficult. how to put this mildly? the search of the russian aeroplane, we understand the british side has a right to search the aeroplane, but what we didn't want, didn't accept,

is that the pilot and the crew were forced to leave the aeroplane, and they wanted to make a secret search of the plane, an absence of the crew. that was the problem on our side. because under the instruction, the commander of the crew, he is not allowed to leave the plane. so that was the major problem, and that is why we said that that was a provocation, because, you know, you have certain rules, and then somebody is coming, and it was not just customers, there were a few other people from other agencies, and they were asking to leave the plane —— it was notjust customs but other people from other agencies. and later when the office issued the statement, they said we have to

fight with arms smuggling and all these things, but it was quite funny because, you know, the plane was about to leave the uk. it wasn't coming in. so the plane came to the uk, the passengers disembarked, you know. then they loaded once again from the uk, the people were waiting, and then they decided to check where there are any arms or anything else, not leaking from the uk, so from my point of view that is quite strange, but maybe the person making the statement didn't bother, you know, divided whether the plane was coming to the uk or are leaving the uk, but as i said —— to find out whether the plane was coming. as i said, against all the rules the plane was demanded to be searched without the crew, and that is why there was such a strong reaction from the russian authorities. i hope

not tired. no? respect all the others, sorry. thank you. i respect the daily telegraph. thank you, mr ambassador. paul brown, itv news. the statement from yulia skripal, "my strength is growing daily since my father is... doesin growing daily since my father is... does in her statement have legitimacy? secondly,... sorry, i haven't seen the statement. it was probably released while we were making the press conference. i wrote a letter to the surgeon detective —— sergeant detective, and he said he was ina sergeant detective, and he said he was in a good health, and i would be happy to congratulate my compatriots in that they are well, so that is what we all need. but it doesn't

replace the investigation. we want to know what happened to for. -- up in for. shouldn't you be angry, outraged, upset? this is my style. don't take it for granted. it might seem you're not taking this seriously, that it is a game? it is not a game. we are taking this seriously. you're probably one of the readers of our tweets. are you reading them? yes. in this situation we are using a sense of humour, because, you know, some statements are because, you know, some statements a re really, because, you know, some statements are really, well, not friendly with common sense. sense of humour in all this? no, we are talking about the statements. the way it is presented, the only way is just to see what we feel about that, but we take everything very seriously. for us,

it is not a joke, believe me. what would be the benefit for the united states and the president, good business, personal relations and so on, to back the sanctions to the people... what would be the benefit for britain? not to have cooperative relations with the russians? i will not comment on the policy of the united states. that is not myjob here, but i can comment on british foreign policy, and i

think there are two reasons for that, exactly what my minister said. what sergey lavrov has said... to ta ke what sergey lavrov has said... to take leave in the western world for deterrence of russia, the second reason. these two goals, as my minister said, were behind everything that happened. anybody? james landale, bbc. how can you say you're following due process and abiding by the rules of the international community when you say you will not accept the findings of this body unless russian investigators are involved? can i just clarify your answer to my colleague's question? when he asked,

what is russia's current theory of who is behind the salisbury attack? we have heard many theories in russian voices as to who might be responsible. the british countries, which other countries, sweden... you said, "we are not blaming anyone." i just want to be absolutely clear, as of now, 20 past two, today, the official position of the russian state is that they are not blaming anybody? and we want to see the evidence. this is the conclusion, and answered your question. then, after the evidence, having evidence, we will make conclusions. as far as, and by the way it was also my statement, the russian involvement, it is not only the russian involvement, as i said before, but also the involvement of the other countries. so we need a transparent

investigation and we don't want to see the monopoly of the very limited group of countries, so we have to trust to the but you are not trusting. you are saying... no, every single mission, it concerns the nationals, they don't have their own experts. these are from britain, the united states, india, china, from, i don't know, brazil, so it is a very concrete story. what i am talking about is that we need not just the british experts to make the conclusions, but we want to see some other countries to be involved. but it never names the identity of its investigators that that is why we are calling for transparency. and what they are telling us, by the

way, the statement from the director—general, she said, "we would be happy to make a transparent but we need the consent of britain." everything all about transparency is in the british hands, sorry about that. i think everybody is tired.” wanted to ask if russia is so keen on seeing the evidence and wanting transparency why have they done so much to impede their investigations into chemical attacks in syria, and closing downjoint into chemical attacks in syria, and closing down joint investigations? to make a story short about serie a, read our answer on the website, —— about syria. there was an article yesterday and we give an answer, on the website. the major problem in syria was that the pcw didn't take

the samples in the place. they didn't make the chain of custody, which is rule number one in the 0pcw and that is why we reacted the way we reacted —— the problem was that the 0pcw didn't take the samples in the 0pcw didn't take the samples in the place. everything is described and explained, the abc. you can see russia did not invent novichok and suggest maybe british spies were behind the attack in salisbury...” said that brings us to the conclusion. it is not something we arejust conclusion. it is not something we are just stating. 28 nations decided

to believe britain and not rush. 14 voted against your motion... 15. 14 abstained. 17. 17 abstinent. isn't it ultimately down to whether you believe russia or not? isn't boris johnson right in the end that people will not fall for your lives forever? give us the evidence... -- fall for your lies forever. 0f course the eu was represented by bold area. but the rest of the world was for —— by bulgaria. i spoke to eve ryo ne was for —— by bulgaria. i spoke to everyone and they said they did not believe in the story presented by

this so—called group of 28. why? ? because they belong to one block. nato, these are nato countries. that is why to say that the whole world, based only on the nato countries? sorry. there are 193 countries, based on the united nations, much bigger than these 28. and all the rest, they simply don't buy anything without the evidence. and i would be surprised if they would be happy to join some kind of a condemnation without any proof. so what we want out of britain is just the facts. and then we will decide who is right and who's wrong, but the major part is missing. i wanted us to believe you were that yulia skripal is recovering her strength. how do you feel about this news from salisbury?

iam feel about this news from salisbury? i am really happy, and feel about this news from salisbury? iam really happy, and i hope feel about this news from salisbury? i am really happy, and i hope sergei skripal will also recover. i am quite sure that one day yulia will come back to moscow, where she has a job, apartments, you know, she is a wealthy person and she is doing well. as far as herfather, that is his choice. he decided to leave, the uk, no problem. from the point of the russian state, russia and —— has no problems. he was sentenced, spent several years in prison, then he is like any other citizen, he is here, thatis like any other citizen, he is here, that is it. for us, they arejust russian citizens, and we are here to defend the rights of those citizens. no sound, please. could you help

with the microphone? yes, please. what is your understanding of mr skripal's activities before that? was he working for the united states or... no idea. he lived as a private citizen. we didn't have any information. i've learned about him only after this trip. we cannot say anything. but we will ask those questions, we will put those questions. you keep talking about evidence, evidence, then when it came to talking about what the british people thought, you referred to a

twitter poll, and on the 18th of march you said in the absence of evidence we definitely need... you are giggling now. do you think it is really helpful that the russian ambassador is trolling the uk in the circumstances, online? we are not trolling. we need the investigation, we need the cooperation. we need the investigation. that is why it was put that way. that was the message about the investigation. i understand you didn't like this forum. you are not watching poirot and what is behind his stories. sorry, it was about the investigation. from swiss television. you mentioned

switzerland... isn't it great a strong sign? switzerland is not part of the european union. and has not lamented sanctions against russia until now. well, i did mention a few other countries so sorry for not mentioning your country —— has not implemented sanctions against russia until this matter. your country to a sovereign decision. everyone was voting at the 0pcw and this is their decision. as i understand they were together with the eu countries, that is it. but in terms of neutrality, or even being apart...” is it. but in terms of neutrality, or even being apart... i will tell you. iam or even being apart... i will tell you. i am working here in the uk. it is not myjob. myjob is to engage

britain inajoint is not myjob. myjob is to engage britain in a joint investigation, and to get the answers, so there are questions we put, and one month has passed since that time we put all these questions. myjob is not about your country, it is about that country. russian television, please. a little bit louder. have you requested any information about the antidote and maybe had an official reply? we did not get an official reply. as soon as we watched the interview of the head of the porton down lab and he said that no antidote was used, we immediately requested the foreign office, this is the way we are communicating with them, and still no answer. two days

passed, three days, no answer. silence. are you in close contact with your british colleagues and do you hear from them? are they going to granta you hear from them? are they going to grant a visa to visit the uk and if they are not, what...? inaudible i hope they will give the visa, but from our point of view, timing is very important. since this is humanitarian case, we believe that it would be issued as far as possible. but we will see. what was the first question? have you had close contact with your british colleagues? do you know if they are going to grant the visa? we are asking, for example, whom to contact

coming to london, whom to call, on the british side, in order to go to salisbury took the hospital. so far, i understand victoria skripal has no access to this information. we requested three days ago the same information from the british government and no reply. i'm not going to make the conclusion that they do not want to see her here, but so far we do not have any information and sometimes the british authorities are very quick, but sometimes not. they are not responding? no. cnn. can you tell us why russia will be speaking at this

time that the security council? does russia have new information to present? what is it hoping to achieve? i think it is time to call the security council, definitely. why wait? what we're going to discuss, we want to have a good discussion about what is happening around the poisoning in salisbury. this is the whole story. it is a very serious question, that is why we wa nt very serious question, that is why we want to discuss it among the members of the security council. but wait a few hours and you will see the discussion. it is happening maybe in three, four hours. the last one, no? inaudible you say you want to be part of the investigation and you want full transparency, does that mean you

cannot trust the 0pcw anymore? he mentioned it several times, just to confirm, do you confirm the russians never have used or had any knowledge of novichok? i confirm that was confirmed yesterday that the meeting of the 0pcw, the first. as far as whether we trust that 0pcw or not, it is not a fair question because we are part of that organisation and we are part of that organisation and we are working together with the other countries there, so as part of the organisation, we want to be involved, that is it. why exclude us? who was the last one? you are. after a ll us? who was the last one? you are. after all this, us? who was the last one? you are. afterall this, questions, us? who was the last one? you are. after all this, questions, a new one came to your mind? yes, can ijust talk about victoria skripal. tell me

where and when, i will be there. the bbc is always around her in moscow. she gave more interviews to the bbc than anyone else. victoria skripal, if granted a uk visa by the british authorities... you are doubting, definitely. i am just authorities... you are doubting, definitely. i amjust raising authorities... you are doubting, definitely. i am just raising the question. if victoria skripal is givena question. if victoria skripal is given a visa by the british authorities, will she be here with you either in the residence or will she be accompanied by russian diplomats or and buy you sponsoring hertrip, diplomats or and buy you sponsoring her trip, will she be flown by the russian government to the uk? is she going to be coming of her own volition, by her own means, and not with the russian government's

support? we're not sponsoring her business. she is coming on her own. i offered her the transportation —— we are not sponsoring her visit. i said that if she wants to stay in the premises of the embassy, not here, of course, this is only for the ambassador, but we have a few places around london, if she would choose that way, we would be happy to accommodate her. the timing of the visit, it is up to her. how long she is going to stay here is up to her. whether she is going to invite, let us say, any press, her own decision. i know she invited already the bbc and they are taking care of her and they filled in her visa, as i understand. in moscow, in order to get the visa, you have to fill in the forms, and i think the bbc

helped her to do this, that is what she told me. if she wants an interpreter, we would be happy to provide, but it doesn't substitute the consular access to yulia skripal by the embassy, different story. she is coming, like a relative. her private business, but we want to come officially to yulia skripal and her father come officially to yulia skripal and herfather in order to come officially to yulia skripal and her father in order to see their commission, talk to them, put some questions. because we have have to investigate that maybe terrorist act, i don't know, nobody knows —— in order to see their condition. victoria skripal, she is coming, she is coming, but on the part of the

embassy, we will be happy to be helpful, but it is up to her to decide what she wants. and maybe she was going to come with somebody else, i don't know. it is her personal business. she is a private citizen and she is going to manage her time and everything, but we will be happy to assist her because we believe this is a very special case and she does not know english well and she does not know english well and in order to help her... what exactly the same questions were put on the british side, are you going to help her here or, you know, with maybe accommodation? who is going to support her here? if she's going to stay. who was going to coordinate her visits to the hospital. that is exactly what we cannot get and she cannot get from the british side, thatis cannot get from the british side, that is the problem. 0n cannot get from the british side, that is the problem. on our part, we are always ready to do this. you're

welcome. i think, are always ready to do this. you're welcome. ithink, ladies are always ready to do this. you're welcome. i think, ladies and gentlemen, you missed the lunch, but you heard a lot of good things. food for thought. thank you very much was. thank you. studio: the russian ambassador. after an hour and studio: the russian ambassador. afteran hourand a studio: the russian ambassador. after an hour and a half of facing questions on the continuing crisis, diplomatic crisis, between britain and russia following the poisoning of surrogate yulia skripal —— of sergei and yulia skripal. while he was on his feet, we had a statement from yulia skripal from the met police. we will talk about that in a moment. questions about victoria skripal, yulia skripal's cousin, and russian state television was released on what it says is a recording of a phone conversation between yulia and victoria skripal well yulia was in a hospital bed last month. in the call, yulia

skripal is said to tell her cousin in russia that she and her father recovering from the attack and she expects to leave hospital soon. russian television says it cannot confirm the authenticity that call. let us talk to our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. which is very difficult to verify any part of that call. almost impossible, at the moment. we have to note, as you just did, the russian broadcasters themselves were not able to make that verification, so we do not know exactly what to make of it. i have to say, on the face of it, there are several reasons why we should be quite sceptical or at least reserved judgment about it. the notion, as you have just alluded to, judgment about it. the notion, as you havejust alluded to, in her

words, our health is ok, referring to her and her father. words, our health is ok, referring to her and herfather. that she, yulia, is getting out of hospital soon and neither of them have suffered irreversible damage. we know because we have been told this, she is making a recovery, we were told last week. wheels and no, you just mentioned, there was a statement released in her name today —— we also know. but we do not know that her father is recovering at all. we have not been told that sergei skripal... all. we have not been told that sergei skripal. .. still technically ina sergei skripal. .. still technically in a critical condition. yes. on the face of it, the description she gives of his health would seem to jar with our understanding of his continued situation. so i think for those reasons alone, we should be sceptical before concluding that

this is a genuine conversation. there is also some slightly odd talk at the beginning and end of it about whether or not victoria will get a visa, victoria asks yulia and yulia says, no one will give you a visa. how would she know that? do we even know if victoria has applied for a visa? the ambassador says the bbc is helping her right to form! an interesting assertion, i have no idea if there is any truth in that. we have got a glimpse into there, if victoria skripal, one of the only close relatives who could possibly come here, sergei skripal's mother is in her 90s, we understand she has not been told what has happened to her son and granddaughter, so victoria is one of the few people who could come here, if she were to come over, what a media circus that would be, you heard it from the ambassador about whether or not the

british authorities would try to chaperone her, you had a question whether the russians would be trying to house her and in some way send minders with her, all of those questions will be going through the minds of british consular officials in moscow, if indeed they are considering a visa request at the moment. in terms of the television interview, healthy scepticism?” think we have to because there is no way of verifying, we do not have a recording of yulia's voice to compare it with. in the statement you will talk about in a minute, there is no reference to either her health or a conversation with her cousin, no way of knowing whether it is true. thank you. let us go to the news correspondent in salisbury. while we were listening to that news conference at the russian embassy, a statement from yulia skripal? that

is right. within the last hour, yulia has released a statement via the met police, saying, i woke up over a week ago and i am glad to say my strength is growing daily, i am grateful for the interest and the many messages of goodwill i have received. she says she has many people to thank for her recovery, namely the people of salisbury, some of whom came to her paid on the evening of the 4th of march when she and her father were incapacitated evening of the 4th of march when she and herfather were incapacitated on the bench —— came to her aid. she said she wanted to thank the staff at the hospital for their ca re the staff at the hospital for their care and professionalism and she goes on to say, i am sure you will appreciate this episode has been somewhat disorientating and i hope you will respect my privacy and that of my family in my period of co nvalescence. of my family in my period of convalescence. the question has to be why the statement was released then because it was within half an hour of the purported interview she

has given on russian television? exactly. the updates on the condition of sergei and yulia have not been forthcoming. we understood yulia had woken up a week ago and was able to say some words. we have now had this recording of her a p pa re ntly now had this recording of her apparently speaking to her cousin from russia, we cannot verify that. we do not have news from hospital on her status, but the fact she has released a statement via the met police shows she appears to now be awake, lucid, very able to discuss her condition and she says a p pa re ntly her condition and she says apparently she plans to discharge herself from hospital in the near future. thank you very much. let us talk them out of the chemical weapons expert who joins me talk them out of the chemical weapons expert whojoins me now. what was interesting was the assertion once again from the russian ambassador that he maintains that they have not produced

novichok. that is right. a very polished performance by the ambassador. i am sure part of the hugely impressive disinformation campaign that we have seen. i have over 20 pages of text and various bits and pieces from the disinformation campaign and counter narrative. when it comes to him denying they ever had novichok, a russian minister three weeks ago in moscow admitted they had created novichoks. and the professor who appeared to have developed it in the 705, he wrote a comprehensive book about it when he defected. i think the intelligence... this is... the intelligence that prime minister mrs may has alluded to three weeks ago after the attack, very compelling evidence and i have seen a little bit of it, it directly point5

evidence and i have seen a little bit of it, it directly points to novichok5 being produced in central russia in the 705 and 805 and even in the 905. we know there is very good intelligence to say they have been stockpiling 5mall good intelligence to say they have been stockpiling small amounts for assassinations. part of the narrative which just does not fit with the reality we know at the moment. a couple of those points, theissue moment. a couple of those points, the issue of the stockpile likely for assassinations is not true and not supported by any evidence, we have just heard that from the russian ambassador. when you talk about that book, the russian embassy has tweeted a picture of the cover, makes the point that says a manual on how to produce novichok was openly published in the us, therefore, they say, there are 20 countries that could easily have produced that particular nerve agent. well, it is one thing having agent. well, it is one thing having a scientific diagram, quite another thing producing them. it is a very

complex, costly in resources, financially as well, to produce a nerve agent. we know the novichoks, boutique is probably the wrong word, but it springs to mind, very sophisticated, it would appear to novichok used in salisbury is not only undetectable by conventional nato chemical weapons detectors, it is usually persistent. this case, it seems to have had a delayed reaction also. they very, very sophisticated super wmd that could only be produced in the most sophisticated type of laboratories and the evidence, a lot has not been declared by the british government for very good reasons, it points directly at russia and at the moment as the russians are not complying with the investigation of the 0rgani5ation with the investigation of the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons which they should do and is the route the un users here, we have no proper evidence,

except this massive amount of data and information in the disinformation campaign. it was only the ambassador, the russian ambassador, who a few days ago suggested perhaps it was mrs may who made these novichoks. a lot of information, a lot of it is quite ridiculous, not borne out by fact. sorry? can i pick you up on that? we're talking about fax. you safer good reasons the british, have not —— you say for good reasons the british have not given the evidence, so the propaganda battle has been won by moscow, the british citizens have not been told what evidence the british government have? that is correct. i have been calling for us to be more proactive, on the front foot. the russians are winning the information battle. i was delighted

the security minister ben wallace took up this mantle last night and was much more detailed, but i quite ee, was much more detailed, but i quite agree, we need to put as much information into the public domain as we can because at the moment people are believing the russian narrative which is just not correct and it is all very well sharing this intelligence with the international coalition that is very strong here, but i personally believe that the government should share a little bit more of this intelligence, without compromising sources, so the general public can be assured, as those who are making the decisions in the capitals of the world that are supporting britain in this, as well as the public on the ground. finally, given this nerve agent, novichok, just how dangerous it is, are you surprised yulia skripal seems to be recovering? yes, i am sure there are a combination of

factors why she is. i suspect she was contaminated through what we call cross contamination, probably got a very small dose. and of course, salisbury is next to porton down, the wool‘s leading centre in countering nerve agents, so no doubt she would have been treated by experts very quickly —— the world. we are led to believe these novichoks very toxic. fantastic effort the salisbury general hospital to have treated her so well and no doubt supported by the experts at porton down. thank you so much for your time this afternoon. pleasure. you are watching afternoon live. young people will be given an award this week and to celebrate inspirational work. the awards started over ten years ago and it rewards young people who have undertaken extraordinary work, from tackling homelessness to saving lives. all week we have been talking

to the winners, let us talk to another one, you helped young disabled people get into football. thank you for waiting. i just want to start, the simple question, why at the age of 14 did you feel that urged to help disabled people get into football? when i was 12, my dad set upa into football? when i was 12, my dad set up a community football session with our local sports club that i played for and to begin with, the numbers were not great, i went along and joined numbers were not great, i went along andjoined in as numbers were not great, i went along and joined in as a kid. numbers were not great, i went along andjoined in as a kid. by the numbers were not great, i went along and joined in as a kid. by the age of 14, i had taken on that two teams we had at the time, and progressed that section until where i am now, we have given over 400 players an opportunity to play sport for the first time. we have given them a chance to be part of something, part ofa team, chance to be part of something, part of a team, and that has stepped the next step. at the age of 14, you started that, we're looking at

pictures of you now in training, it is fairto pictures of you now in training, it is fair to say, i look at what you do andi is fair to say, i look at what you do and i would call it an obsession, you clearly love what you do. yeah, it is enjoyable, it is enjoyable for me seeing people progress through sport, notjust in sport, through life, because of the opportunity sport brings to people's lives, but also enjoyable for the lads that do not normally get the chance to do those extracurricular activities outside of school leaver day—to—day life. at the age of 14, i keep going back to this, you had your friends at the time, this would have taken up at the time, this would have taken upa lot at the time, this would have taken up a lot of your time and taking you out of your normal circle of friends, presumably. looking back, why did you do that?” friends, presumably. looking back, why did you do that? i don't know, really. i think, why did you do that? i don't know, really. ithink, really, isaw why did you do that? i don't know, really. i think, really, i saw a lot of the lads that played, around the same age i was, in the section i took care of, i saw them as friends as well. the way we cope —— we coach

isn't standard textbook coaching which is why it is so successful. school doesn't often work for the lads that participate in the sessions so that kind of, this is how it is going to be done, that kind of culture does not work either. most of our sessions, turned up, either. most of our sessions, turned up, play, either. most of our sessions, turned up, play, getting people active, getting people on the pitch, playing football, sometimes they have... they come along and pick up the ball with their hands, play in the corner on their own, but it is the first step to getting them involved. you have to be open—minded as to how it pans out. how it has panned out for you is you have created 150 jobs. you have opened 18 shots. not yet, thatis you have opened 18 shots. not yet, that is the long—term plan. —— 18 shops. i have started a social

enterprise in gloucester to help the lads i coached to get into work. at 16, i had different options, a—levels, this unique, all kinds of degrees —— this university. these boys i saw as my friends, they were finishing school, not even finishing school, half of them, they did not have anything at the end of it, they we re have anything at the end of it, they were not being pressed. i sat down with my dad and said, i want to do some thing to help them, and i came up some thing to help them, and i came up with an idea to open a sports shop to employ them and get them into mainstream work in the long term to help them move on. we have one at the moment in gloucester, doing all right, we have created 13 first timejobs, nine of doing all right, we have created 13 first time jobs, nine of which have gone to people with learning disabilities, and we have moved nine people on into mainstream work now. i think doing all right in the

states it. i want to finish by congratulating you. —— i think doing all right understates it. clearly just watching you talk about this, you get quite a lot part of helping others in this way. yeah, i get a lot out of it, they get a lot out of it. especially in the shop, the thing for me, a lot of the customers getting locked out of it, the lads working behind the till, i do not working behind the till, i do not work downstairs, the lads serving, the shop manager is half paralysed, he runs the till, the other lad next to him with his difficulties as well, you are the?, you gain an experience you will not get in anywhere else's store —— you, the customer, you gain an experience. thank you very much. let us catch up with the weather. after everything the weather has

thrown at us lately, a pleasant change to have a day like this on our hands. beautiful blue skies in guernsey, sunshine in county durham. still snow on the ground, you can make that out on the satellite picture. foremost, the story of sunshine. a bit of extra cloud streaming from the west turning the sunshine hazy. whichever way you slice it, a fine enter the day. 0vernight, finance driver central and eastern areas, some clear spells, turning a little bit chilly —— fine and dry. the west, extra cloud, outbreaks of rain, strengthening southerly wind, this area of low pressure will be squashing its way in from the west. this frontal system will not make a lot of progress on friday, rain confined to western areas. ahead of it, drawing in a southerly wind,

mild aircoming north, it, drawing in a southerly wind, mild air coming north, we will see fairly high temperatures tomorrow, particularly where we get sunshine in central and eastern parts of england and eastern scotland. in the west, thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain. generally quite breezy. have a look at the temperatures. maybe as high as 17. something coolerfurther north and west. it could cause headaches into the weekend. it is likely to stall somewhere across the british isles, a bit of uncertainty about exactly where the rain will turn up on saturday, could be a span of rainfor turn up on saturday, could be a span of rain for central and northern areas through the day, hefty showers elsewhere, a lot of dry weather as well, and where we get brightness, temperatures really responding, could get to 17, maybe 18, in the south—east. sunday morning could start with mist and fog with light winds. mainly fine day, spousal

sunshine, the chance of showery rain, and wherever you are, it will feel mild —— spells of sunshine. to sum up things, the weekend will be mild, some sunny spells, equally some rain at times and also patchy mist and fog. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 3: in a statement from her hospital bed, yulia skripal — poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury along with her father — says she is getting stronger ‘daily‘. the russian ambassador to the uk again denies his country's involvement in the attack — and points the finger at britain... we have a lot of suspicions about britain, you know. if you take the last, say, ten years, so many russian citizens died here in the uk under very strange circumstances. rising concern about the murder rate in the capital — as two men die in separate attacks in east london.

it is unacceptable, is what is going on. is life in my constituency less than in other parts of the country? is that the signal we are sending now? refusing to change his status — mark zuckerberg says he's still the right person to lead facebook — despite the ongoing data sharing row. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with will. and the latest on the commonwealth games. guess, england win six golds on the first day, scotland pick up a gold as well, in england —— yes. the masters teeing off in the next 45 minutes. and hot off the press, uefa have charged liverpool after the manchester city team bus was attacked last night ahead of their champions league quarterfinal, charged with setting off fireworks,

crowd damage... it is like reading your wikipedia. laughter thanks, will. ben has all the weather. as we head towards the weekend temperatures on the rise. all the details, coming up. ben, thank you very much for that. also coming up on afternoon live... we meet more of the remarkable youngsters who've been nominated for a rotary young citizen's award. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. yulia skripal — who was poisoned alongside her father sergei in salisbury last

month — has said that her "strength is growing daily". the news came soon after russia tv aired a recording of an alleged phone conversation, which it says took place between m5 skripal and her cousin. meanwhile, russia's ambassador to the uk, alexander yakovenko, has branded the foreign secretary borisjohnson's claims about the salisbury attack "unacceptable". he said moscow was keen to hear yulia skripal's side of the story. a statement from yulia was issued by police in the last hour. it says: "i woke up over a week ago now and am glad "to say my strength is growing daily. "i am grateful for the interest in me and for the many messages of goodwill that i have received." "i have many people to thank for my recovery and would especially "like to mention the people of salisbury that came to my aid when my father and i were incapacitated." "i am sure you appreciate that the entire episode is somewhat disorientating, and i hope that you'll respect my privacy and that of my family during the period of my convalescence." 0ur news correspondent lucinda adam is in salisbury. a remarkable statement given that not long ago she was fighting for her life? exactly. it is nowjust

over a month since sergei and yulia skripal were found on the bench in the city centre. they have been recovering here at salisbury district general hospital and at first we knew very little about their recovery. they were poisoned with a novichok agent which the hospital is not used to dealing with. we heard one week ago yulia had woken up and was making some improvement. we don't have an update on herfather sergei but as improvement. we don't have an update on her father sergei but as far as we know he is still critical but stable. however, in this apparent phone conversation between her cousin, viktoria skripal in russia, yulia apparently says everyone is ok, yulia apparently says everyone is 0k, including her father, yulia apparently says everyone is 0k, including herfather, that eve ryo ne 0k, including herfather, that everyone is all right, no irreparable harm has been done and she plans to discharge herself from hospital shortly. and in that conversation she is alleged to have had with the russian television station, she talks bear in terms of her father also being station, she talks bear in terms of herfather also being on the road to recovery. but that is not the

official statement we have been told? she talks, they are, in terms of. exactly. the official statement we have been told if remains critical but stable. we have had no further update on that. however, she has told her cousin that he is recovering. she said, "everyone is ok, everyone has survived, and no irreparable harm has been done." herfather is obviously significantly older than her at 66, yulia just 33, but we understand both are making some form of recovery. lucinda from salisbury, thank you for that update. the russian ambassador to the uk, alexander yakovenko, has been holding a news conference in london. he said russia and the skripals wanted to know the truth. we want to establish the truth, and i am quite sure that sergei and yulia skripal would also like to know, you know, what happened to them, who did this. and in order to have these answers, we have to investigate, but for the time being no investigation is happening. so that's why, you know — it could be me or somebody else, it could be anybody from the russian side — we want to establish

the truth, and i think since then, at least what we hear, that yulia is in good health now, she could probably answer some questions, from her side. i mean, on the questions that we put to the foreign office, and there are something like around 40 of them, so basically these are the questions, you know, we want to hear. but from a personal point of view, we are really sorry for them. these are our people, and i'm going to meet personally viktoria skripal, when she is going to come to london, in orderjust to have a good conversation with her and offer any help we can make, you know, to offer her everything. that is at least my goal. the ambassador went on to deny, emphatically,

the foreign secretary boris johnson's insistence that russia was behind the poisoning and probably stockpiling the nerve agent novichok. borisjohnson. "russia has investigated delivering nerve agents, likely, for assassination, and as part of this programme, has produced and stockpiled small quantities of novichok. " i like the word "likely." i like the words "highly likely." maybe it is clever. but what i want to say, that, first of all, it's not true. this is first. and that — let's say statement — is not supported by any evidence. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale was listening

to the ambassador. all this talk of a new cold war. certainly a propaganda war going on? usually so. what we have just listened to for almost the last two ours is just listened to for almost the last two ours isjust a litany listened to for almost the last two ours is just a litany of russian defiance. russia, the ambassador said, had no involvement in the salisbury attack. he said that not as we had heard, russia had never even made novichok nerve agent, as the rest of the international community believes it has. the ambassador insisted russia was not isolated, despite the fact that many countries have supported the united kingdom in both expelling russian diplomats, but also in votes in key international institutions, such as yesterday at the chemicals weapons watchdog at the hague, where an attempt by russia to basically have attempt by russia to basically have a joint investigation between the uk

and russia on the salisbury incident was resoundingly defeated, you know, by 15 votes to six. what we have seen today is continuing defiance, a continuing attempt by the russian state to get onto the propaganda front foot. a5 state to get onto the propaganda front foot. as you say, there is an information battle going on. earlier this week the uk was on the back foot because of the confusion caused by the interview by the head of porton down. since then, what we have seen, the russians using what they called an emergency meeting at a chemical weapons store yesterday. they held their press conference, a news co nfe re nce they held their press conference, a news conference in the uk, then later today in the new york they are calling a session of the un security council, in other words using every means they can to step up both support for their argument, the russian position, and also what they see as questioning and challenging of the british position. ecole co nsta ntly of the british position. ecole constantly during that one and a half hour news conference for evidence and facts, frankly

something many people could do with. perhaps the weakness in the british argument at the moment, we don't know what they seem to be telling others? well, what we know is that... what the russians are looking for, they wa nt a cce55 the russians are looking for, they want access to the samples of the nerve agent, novichok. they want com plete nerve agent, novichok. they want complete access to the police investigation. i have to say, even the metropolitan police doesn't share its investigations with other nations as easily as that. i think the state we are out at the moment, the state we are out at the moment, the investigations are continuing, particularly investigations by the chemical weapons watchdog. that will report, we think, sometime in the next couple of weeks. certainly the watchdog says it will reach some kind of conclusion next week. what the russians are saying, they are not going to trust that conclusion u nless not going to trust that conclusion unless russian investigators are involved in the process. at the moment the 0pcw basically, supposed

to be an independent body that does things independently, it keeps the identity and nationality of its investigators private, so nobody knows which country is looking at which and where these people come from, but the russians are effectively saying, we are not going to trust the results of this investigation unless russian investigators are involved in the process. at the moment that is something the 0pcw is resisting. james comey thank you, james landale, at the russian embassy in london —— james, thank you. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has blamed cuts in police budgets and youth provision for an increase in violent crime in the capital. he was speaking after two men were killed yesterday — bringing the total number of suspected murders in the city to more than 50 since the start of the year. two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after an 18—year—old was stabbed to death in hackney in north—east london. john mcmanus reports from there. it was near the spotjust before 8pm last night that police officers were flagged down by a motorist. here in link street, they found an 18—year—old suffering from stab wounds.

despite administering first aid and calling in the london air ambulance, they were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead at the scene just before 8:30. he has been named locally as israel, though his details haven't been officially confirmed yet. police say they have arrested two 17—year—old5 on suspicion of murder. meanwhile on the same day, not far away, a 53—year—old man died outside this bookmaker‘s, after what police suspect was a fight. another man fled the scene. police are looking for him and appealing for witnesses. but it is families that are being torn apart in this epidemic of violence. on monday, 16—year—old amaan shakoor was shot in the face in walthamstow, north—east london. he died the next day. and 17—year—old tanesha melbourne was also gunned down this week in what appears to be a drive—by shooting. the latest figures on homicides make stark reading. 52 people have died in violent circumstances since the start of the year. 34 of those were stabbings. seven people died

from gunshot wounds. and amongst the victims, 11 teenagers, though many in their 405 have also died. police have stepped up patrols, but some locals here in hackney are nervous. i don't really see much police presence. i think they are just dealing directly with calls and incidents they get. in regards to atually seen police officers walking down the street, i can probably count on my hand in the last four years, the number of times i have seen that. the local mp believes that cuts in policing may have contributed to the problem. we have lost one in four police officers since 2010. it is impossible to deal with gang crime, knife crime, gun crime, unless you have the right level of neighbourhood policing. but law enforcement can't solve things on their own — we need to work with schools, social workers, mental health services. the met police say they understand how alarmed the local community are,

but they insist the only way to fully tackle violent crime is for the community to work with them. 0ur correspondent simon jones is in hackney, with the labour mp for tottenham, david lammy. the white bullies tend behind me“ a sign of what happened yesterday evening, another teenager losing his life on the streets of london. people who live here say it is becoming all too familiar sight —— the white police tend behind me. david lammy, the local mp, your platform it murders in your constituency since christmas. this is the worst i have seen it. i have been an mp for 18 years. four murders since christmas, more murders since christmas, more murders by knife crime than weeks in the year and it is not even summer. i have had no phone calls from the home secretary or any ministers. from the mayor. my constituents are

frustrated and angry, but also quite scared for their children, and quite rightly they are saying," why does deathin rightly they are saying," why does death in tottenham or hackney walthamstow, why is it treated any differently to other young children losing their lives?" do you really think that is the case? that is what they say to me and quite rightly it is how they feel. four young people... we had a young boy shot in the front of the cinema in wood green in north london, in haringey, and now we have had a victim was her life in the way she has. it goes on and on. today, as i stand here, on the e—mail comes another stabbing, just across the way in walthamstow. p per —— people are scared and frustrated and i think they want the politicians to come together, for

there to be political consensus, and it does have to do with policing. we have a serious drug market in this country worth £11 billion, fuelling some of the turf wars particularly, we have social media exacerbating it, and we have young people now who we re it, and we have young people now who were recruited at 12 or a living by gangsters running drugs who are now 17,18,19, gangsters running drugs who are now 17, 18, 19, and have a very callous attitude towards life. but that is pa rt attitude towards life. but that is part of the problem, isn't it? if you have people indoctrinated in these gangs it is not something you will solve overnight, is it? it will not be solved without political consensus, but what i have made clear, the city of glasgow was the murder capital of the uk ten years ago. last year they had not won the fatal death by a knife. they gripped it. politicians came together from different political parties. they had consensus. they were absolutely serious about violence reduction across the city, notjust knife

crime and gun crime, but also domestic violence and other types of islands in the community. health, local authorities, police and community working together, that is what we now need in london —— other types of violence in the committee. we are getting this political foot ball we are getting this political football about police numbers. i am concerned about police numbers but what my constituents want our solutions, answers, working together. we cannot have children dying on our street innocently night after night after night. you spoke about the feared many parents have about the feared many parents have about if their children quote, whether they will see them again, whether they will see them again, whether they will come home safely, and you have spoken to families who have lost... i have a teenager who comes home from school in north london. i'm scared for him, if he is late. why hasn't he called, what is going on? of course my constituents are worried, they frightened. in a big city like london you can live a parallel life, you can be in the

kind of neighbourhood, have the kind ofjob where you are not so worried. but, actually, if you live on a housing estate on your one —— or you live near one, if it feels like neighbourhood policing has vanished, is not around you, and we haven't seen the police were i have been here andi seen the police were i have been here and i have been here for a little while now. people are frightened, and worse than that, thatis frightened, and worse than that, that is why young people then carry knives. they carry a knife to protect themselves, because they do not have confidence that the state will protect them on their way back from school on a friday or saturday night. thank you very much for joining us. the police say they are stepping up patrols to try and crack down on violence and make sure people do feel safe. we have heard from the mp there, it will be a tough task ahead. simon jones in hackney. you're watching afternoon live — these are our headlines: salisbury poisoning victim yulia skripal says she's getting stronger by the day, in a statement released from her hospital bed.

in other developments, the russian ambassador to the uk has reiterated that russia had nothing to do with the salisbury attack and has never produced the novichok nerve agent. rising concern about the murder rate in the capital, as two men die in separate attacks in east london. in sport, the gold medal rush begins for the home teams at the commonwealth games, with amy wilmot among those celebrating. england's topped the medal table after six golds the first day ‘s. u efa golds the first day ‘s. uefa charge liverpool after the manchester city team bus was attacked head of the champions league defeat at anfield. a5 attacked head of the champions league defeat at anfield. as you can see, fans threw cans, bottles, flares at the bus. liverpool have apologised and called the behaviour com pletely apologised and called the behaviour completely unacceptable. rory maca is poised and ready to begin his quest for the coveted green jacket in augusta. his campaign begins this evening. tiger woods get under way

in under half an hour's time. i will have those stories and more at half—past. after weeks of turmoil surrounding his company over the improper use of personal data, mark zuckerberg has insisted he is the right person to continue leading facebook. the company now says the british firm, cambridge analytica, may have used information from 87 million people — and more than a million of those affected were in the uk. rory cellan—jones reports. he's been under siege, as the scandal grows overjust how much data facebook gathers from more than 2 billion users, and where it ends up. last night, in a conference call with journalists, mark zuckerberg admitted how much his company had got wrong. we didn't do enough. we didn't focus enough on preventing abuse and thinking through how people could use these tools to do harm as well, and that goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, hate speech, in addition to developers and data privacy. we didn't take a broad enough view of what our responsibilities are and that was a huge mistake. it was my mistake.

the current scandal began with a personality quiz app, which delivered facebook data to the political consultancy cambridge analytica. facebook now says up to 87 million people were affected, mostly in the united states. in the uk, there were just 1000 downloads of the personality app, but because it scooped up all of their friends' data as well, 1 million people here could be affected. over half the adult population in the uk use facebook, so has anyone been put off by the latest revelations? it definitely has made me think about quitting facebook. it's definitely a worry in terms of what my data is being used for. i don't think quitting facebook will be an option for now. i'm somewhat addicted to facebook, in all honesty, and it's so influential across all generations. jenny tennison believes sharing data can prove beneficial, but says facebook users need more control. what's problematic i think still is that it seems to be

facebook making all the decisions about what should be made available, about which organisations can have access to it, and about checking up on whether those organisations are doing the right things with that data as well. mark zuckerberg insisted last night that he was still the best person to lead facebook and would learn from his mistakes, but with australia's privacy commissioner the latest regulator to investigate the company, his job is only going to get harder. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. a former hospital consultant has beenjailed for 12 years, after he amassed an armoury of guns, including machine guns, pistols and hundreds of bullets. martin watt was found guilty of intent to endanger life. he had drawn up a hit list of former colleagues, after he was sacked from monklands hospital in airdrie. katrina renton, bbc news, at the high court in glasgow. —— catriona renton reports.

how did this doctor turn into a potential mass murderer? it was only when detectives received a tip—off about a parcel addressed to martin watt‘s home near glasgow that they discovered the cache of arms he had amassed. he had three scorpion submachineguns, two pistols and over 1,500 live rounds of ammunition. a white envelope revealed his plans. "bad guys", written on the front. inside, a list of people who he believed were involved when he lost his job from monklands hospital. dr watt was a consultant in the accident and emergency department there. back in 2005, he appeared in a bbc panorama programme about the horrors of violent crime. he worked in the nhs for 32 years. martin watt had been involved in a campaign to fight hospital cuts in his department, something he said did not help his career.

he then became ill and was off work for over a year. during a phased return, there were complaints about him and he was eventually dismissed. dr watt devised his plans to assassinate his colleagues based on the film killer elite. he made his own gunpowder, bought deactivated weapons and used diy guides to reactivate them, and he would practice near his home. in the months before his arrest, martin watt told the court in he would come to a wooded piece of land, that he would take one of the machine guns out of his rucksack, and practise shooting targets. four bullets a day, five days a week, monday to friday. a senior lawyer said there needs to be more control of deactivated weapons. it is very easy to get hold of deactivated guns because there's no control over them at all, as i understand it. and the process of reactivation, i think, is fairly readily available on the internet. as i understand it, in the case i conducted relatively recently, it is a pretty simple process. martin watt, a man whose job was devoted to saving lives, now faces many years in jail for intending to endanger the lives of others.

katrina renton, bbc news, at the high court in glasgow. catriona renton, bbc news, at the high court in glasgow. a pensioner arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of an intruder during a suspected burglary has been released on bail. detectives say richard 05born—brook5, who's 78, discovered two men in his house in south east london in the early hours of yesterday. our legal correspondent clive coleman explained more. on and then you are allowed to use reasonable force by way of self defence. if you are faced with a burglar you're allowed to use reasonable force by way of self defence. the big question is what is reasonable? if you are in your own home, confronted by a burglar and fearfor home, confronted by a burglar and fear for your own safety or the safety of your family, if you do something reasonable in those highly traumatic circumstances, what you consider reasonable force in that high—pressure situation, that is going to be lawful. that involve

picking up a weapon and using it on the burglar. what the law does not allow is the use of what is called grossly disproportionate force, so for instance if someone lies in wait for instance if someone lies in wait for a burglar then uses extreme force, if someone is small and an armed and a gun is used, you know, or the householder carries out some sort of act of revenge, that is not permitted by the law, and that is why the police have to investigate each of these cases. they are all fa ct each of these cases. they are all fact specific and complex and they have to determine the precise level of force used and whether it was all was not proportionate. clive coleman. the green party has launched its local election campaign in london — with a focus on housing. they're calling on the government to treat social housing with what they call ‘the value it deserves' — and are urging that the right to buy scheme be scrapped. the party co—leader, johnathan ba rtley, attended a protest on a south london housing estate, and explained why he's against demolitions of current social housing, when there needs to be more available.

communities are going to be absolutely broken up, people here who have been here decades, raised their children here, they will lose that sense of community, will be priced out, won't be able to move back in, and it will not be the increase in social housing we need. are you saying you are against all demolition? you will only work with what you have? where it is possible not to demolish it is sensible not to, because demolishing an estate is a big waste environmentally, financially and socially. it is far better to have a win—win for everyone. one of india's biggest film stars salman khan has been sentenced to five years in prison for killing two blackbucks — a rare antelope species which is protected under indian law. the case dates back to 1998 when mr khan was making a film. rajini vaidya nathan reports from delhi. he's one of the world's highest—paid actors, loved by millions. salman khan's career spanned decades. seen here playing a corrupt cop turned good, he's known as the bad boy of bollywood, both on and off screen.

today, the megastar was in court, after a judge found him guilty of violating india's wildlife act by killing two blackbucks, an endangered antelope. the case dates back to 1998, when he was shooting for this film, hum saath—saath hain, near the indian city ofjodhpur. four of his co—stars who were in his jeep at the time were cleared of lesser charges. few celebrities are as worshipped or idolised as salman khan is here in india. his cult status is so huge that it's unlikely that this conviction will dent his popularity or damage his career. this isn't his first brush with the law. in 2002, he was accused of killing a homeless man near his house in mumbai, in a hit and run. it was a case which gripped india. the court found him guilty, but after a protracted legal case he was acquitted.

salman khan's lawyers say he'll appeal his five—year sentence and apply for bail. he's currently in police custody and could spend the night injail. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. time for a look at the weather with ben roach. good afternoon. —— ben rich. it will take a pleasant turn. plenty of sunshine and a bit more cloud out west, breeze generally strengthening and through the night there will be some rain across northern ireland, the west of scotland, perhaps some snow for a time of the high ground. further east where we keep clear spells, it will turn relatively chilly, perhaps cold enough in one or two match spots for a touch of frost. then a change in our fortunes. spots for a touch of frost. then a change in ourfortunes. rain in northern ireland but western scotland, perhaps fringing into the far north of england and wales, but eased there will be some spells of sunshine. generally breezy but that

breeze coming from the south —— further east there will be some spells of sunshine. a5 temperatures are not bright where you are, they could get as high as 15, 16, perhaps even 17 degrees. then that mild feel continuing into the weekend, a mixed bag of weather. some sunshine, some rain at times and some patchy misty fog as well. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. yulia skripal, who was poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury, has said in a statement released by police, that her "strength is growing daily", adding that she was grateful for the many messages of goodwill that she has received. meanwhile — russian state tv has broadcast what it claims is a recording of a phone conversation with m5 skripal from her hospital bed — although this hasn't been verified. russia's ambassador has continued to deny his country's involvement — and said moscow would accept the results of tests by international chemical weapons inspectors on the suspected nerve agent used in the attack. in other news, two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after an 18—year—old was stabbed to death in hackney. the number of people murdered in the capital this year is now more than 50. facebook has said the information

of 87 million people may have been improperly shared with political consultancy cambridge analytica. founder mark zuckerberg has taken personal responsibility — but insisted he was the right person to continue running the social media giant. a former nhs consultant, who stockpiled weapons and drew up a hit list of former colleagues, has been jailed for 12 years. martin watt, who's 62, was found guilty of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life. sport now on afternoon live with will perry. day one of the commonwealth games may be a sign of things to come with england and hosts australia battling at the top of the medal table. absolutely. 0ver absolutely. over the next 11 days, england are top, with 12 medals, six of them gold, two of them came in

the swimming pool earlier, and they we re the swimming pool earlier, and they were a surprise. amy wilmot winning the 400 metres individual medley. wilmot came second to her british team—mate in glass go for years ago. —— glasgow. ross murdoch was defending a title, as well, but he was also pipped to the gold medal despite leading for much of the race, beaten by james despite leading for much of the race, beaten byjames wilby. elsewhere, max whitlock led england to their first gold medal on the gold coast, winning in gymnastics. clinching the victory alongside his team—mates by wilson and others. ten points clear of canada in second. the factually and his pilot matt

rotherham won a gold medal, in a commonwealth games world record. wales beat india 3—2 in the hockey, that was a big upset. jersey stunned australia beating them in the men's triple bowls. sally pearson is also making headlines. she is the face of the games but she had to withdraw because of injury. that was yesterday when she was carrying the baton. she was regarded as one of the hosts gold medal prospects but she has been struggling with an achilles problem. she was in tears, she said was almost like grief. 0rganisers said she did not declare herself it to sell more tickets for the event. —— herself fit. herself it to sell more tickets for the event. -- herself fit. no, she didn't do that, but she would have

felt the obligation to do the right thing by us and we respect that, and at the end of the day physically she could not do it. there is no trickery in this. it was her trying to do her best by her country and announcing it in the only time she could, she delayed it until after the opening ceremony but i don't see that as trickery. sally pearson does not play games. she's a straightforward decent aussie girl. no conspiracy theory. oh, come on, you need to feel sorry for her. manchester city had a night to forget on and off the pitch last night, didn't they? yes, they were battered on the pitch by liverpool, losing 3—0 in the first leg of the champions league quarterfinal and also their team bus was attacked. this was their welcome to anfield. two police officers were hurt. uefa has charged liverpool with throwing objects and setting

off fireworks and crowd disturbances and that case will be dealt with. this was the view from inside the tea m this was the view from inside the team bus. liverpool have apologised and they have called the behaviour com pletely and they have called the behaviour completely unacceptable. there are ca ns completely unacceptable. there are cans sitting the windows. tonight it is the turn of arsenal to hit the european stage as they play cska moscow in the quarterfinals of the europa league. lacazette could make his first start for arsenal since the end of their brief was double arsene wenger has not confirmed as to whether david 05pina will continue in goal —— is the end of february. the masters is under way in the united states. the 87 manfield includes tiger woods, looking for his fifth title. —— 87

man field. vijay singh is currently leading. turning back the clock at 55 years of age. that is all the sport for now, more in the next hour. thanks forjoining us. young people from across the uk and the republic of ireland will be given a rotary young citizen award this weekend to celebrate the inspirational work they have done in their community. the awards started over 10 years ago, and rewards young people who have all undertaken extraordinary work — from tackling homelessness to saving lives. and two of the winners join me now. with me in the studio is rebekah hinton — who's helping to cloth children in her community. also i'm joined byjoseph cox — who's being awarded for helping the homelessness — he's in our studio in edinburgh. how old are you? 11 years old. you

saw homeless people on the streets of your hometown, what was your reaction? i was so upset, so i tried to change what i saw. you get home and you decide that, so what did you do? i told my mother and she got in contact with a trust and they said we could start collecting socks for homeless people. you came up with the idea, socks or the street, how does it work? —— for the street. the idea, socks or the street, how does it work? -- for the street. we have a facebook page and we collect socks and when we feel like we have some, we go into town and give them out. notjust socks, you have expanded? yes, underwear, sleeping bags, hats and scarves and gloves. your school has also got involved, you persuaded them to be a drop—off point? yes, we did. how did you do

that? i didn't really persuade them, i told my headteacher and they said, yes, let's do this. you still travelled and if you see someone indeed, what you do? we stopped the carand we get indeed, what you do? we stopped the car and we get out and we give them some socks as we always carry some. you have been awarded this rotary citizens award, when they told you that, how did you respond?” citizens award, when they told you that, how did you respond? i was speechless. i was so happy and surprised. what have your friends said? they are happy. are they really? they jealous. .. yeah. laughter i want laughter iwanta laughter i want a quick word with rebecca. you have also been helping with homeless people. tell us a bit about

it. i set up a children's clothes banka it. i set up a children's clothes bank a few years ago in my local area, in bradford in yorkshire. the area, in bradford in yorkshire. the area i live is deprived and there's area i live is deprived and there's a lot of child poverty, and so i saw a lot of child poverty, and so i saw a lot of children coming to school. kids coming without proper coats in the middle of winter. it's freezing up the middle of winter. it's freezing up north! it isjust not the middle of winter. it's freezing up north! it is just not right. the middle of winter. it's freezing up north! it isjust not right. we have more than enough in this country. what did your friends said to you? it is not most people's reaction. most people would ignore it but you decided to do something about it. yes, often we see issues like this and we think it is too big to deal with, child poverty is humongous, but doing little things, even something small, a simple idea,

working at the way we can pass on clothing. they sign that there is something we can do about it —— a sign. what is the reaction? it has been amazing. we have a lot of people who are refugees from over 25 countries around the world. people who have come on the back of lorries, arriving with just the clothes on their backs, and we have been able to give them close and also nappies and pushchairs for children. it is amazing to see them. how are things sorted? you have a voucher scheme? yes, the clothes are sorted into ages and they are donated and we have a system whereby health visitors, schools, children's centres, can refer families health visitors, schools, children's centres, can referfamilies to us, who they feel are in need and then we are able to provide them with clothing and other items. looking at that, it is busy, lots of smiling

faces, what is the reaction that you get? it is amazing, people are so grateful, and it is the simplest things, giving someone underwear, not exactly much, but they are so grateful for it. everyone of you that i speak to, you all smile when you describe what you do. what do you describe what you do. what do you get out of it? ijust love it, i love being able to help people like this, it is a real privilege, actually, to be able to do this. you have been given this award, what does this mean? it is really amazing. i feel very on does this mean? it is really amazing. ifeel very on it. where i live in bradford, it is a place which is not in the news for good reasons most of the time, and to be able to say, there is good things going on in bradford, and also the volu nteers going on in bradford, and also the volunteers who help, it is more for them that i feel that i'm really pleased. what is next for you? i

would love to see clothing banks in other cities across the uk. you would like to take this nationally? yes, this is a simple idea. we have a lot of experience because we have been running it for years now, but how it works. what have you learned about people along the way? people are amazing. i'm really encouraged by the people that i see and the people that donate, their generosity, and the people who receive, people are so resilient and some of the stories are so awe—inspiring. some of the stories are so awe-inspiring. difficult to get this going, how did you persuade people? it started little, i spoke to teachers at school, and i said, do you have some clothing, there was a particularfamily i you have some clothing, there was a particular family i saw. it started very small, but people, when they see an idea, they saw it working and

they jumped on board. see an idea, they saw it working and theyjumped on board. we faced challenges, working out how best to do it logistically with referrals will stop people were excited to be able to help. if you are taking this on, how will you do it? the plan is to get in contact with local charities, that is the best way to do it, they will often have links with schools and they can refer families on. maybe to have a base in an in families on. maybe to have a base in anina families on. maybe to have a base in an in a city is the way to do it, i would suggest, and a way to provide clothing for children —— inner—city. you seem to have the magic touch what is going back tojoseph. you are 11 and you have only launched this scheme, what is next? to inspire more schools and more children to start collecting socks and to help homeless people because they are still people and they are still alive. are you a nuisance in

the changing room, taking socks from your friends? no. laughter your parents must be proud? yes, they are very proud. you are meeting princess and this weekend? are you nervous? a bit, but also happy. once you have appeared on bbc news, it is downhill all the way! joseph, thanks. rebecca, talking to young people, as we have done all week, do you accept that you are inspirational? i hope so because i believe an awful lot of young people out there, if they see an idea, grasp a little idea and run with it, young people have massive potential to make a difference and i would love to see more doing that. you are proud of yourself? yeah. laughter

well, you should be. thanks for joining us. makes you feel about that size when you talk to people like that. thousands of americans have been marking the 50th anniversary of the murder of the civil rights leader, martin luther king. a rally in memphis, where dr king was shot by a white supremacist, was the key event. bells were rung 39 times, once for each year of his life. jesse jackson, who was in memphis on the day martin luther king died, said the pain is still raw. nada tawfik reports. crowd sings: we shall overcome. what better way to honour the apostle of nonviolence than with a massive march for equality? joined in purpose and united in action, they were led forward by the son who bears dr king's name. and the celebration of his life continued right onto the site where he spent his final moments.

the large crowd rejoiced, as artists performed with soul. but they also reflected on the civil rights hero's unrealised dream. faith leaders and activists spoke passionately about the injustices that prevail. we must show the world that while an assassin's bullet killed the dreamer on this sacred ground on this day 50 years ago, he did not kill the dream. thank god for dr king's dream. he said we can do it better together. he lives, he lives, he lives. reverend jesse jackson returned to the spot where he witnessed the assassination. and every time the scab comes off, the sore's still raw. the blood still oozes. this is the site of the crucifixion. but not far from here is the resurrection — the new hope and the new possibilities.

bell tolls at 6:01, king was silenced by a sniper. bells rang 39 times, to honour the number of years he lived. because of him, because of his glorious words and deeds, because of his hopeful vision and his moral imagination, we found the courage to come as far as we have. picking up dr king's unfinished business was the theme of this commemoration, with the central question — where do we go from here? many believe dr king provided that answer so many years ago. nada tawfik, bbc news, memphis. in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. salisbury poisoning victim yulia skripal says she's getting stronger by the day — in a statement released from her hospital bed. in other developments,

the russian ambassador to the uk has reiterated his claim that russia had nothing to do with the salisbury attack and has never produced the novichok nerve agent and rising concern about the murder rate in the capital — as two men die in separate attacks in east london. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. worrying news for the automotive industry as new figures show that the uk new car market declined in march. according to the society of motor manufacturers, registrations fell 15.7% compared with march last year. more on that in just a moment. the final gender pay gap figures in the uk have revealed than men are paid on average 9.7% more than women. the deadline for companies to reveal their pay figures expired on wednesday evening. 0verall, more than 10,000 companies reported their numbers, which indicate 78% of firms pay men more than women on average. more on that in a moment.

activity in the uk services sector has fallen to its lowest level since the vote for brexit — as bad weather and economic uncertainty took their toll. that's according to a closely watched survey — the markit/cips purchasing managers' index. final gender pay gap figures for large companies in the uk have been revealed — what do they show? according to bbc analysis of the figures, more than three—quarters of uk companies pay men more on average than women. 10,016 companies had reported figures by the 4th april deadline. the government was expecting around 9,000 companies to report. there's been a scramble ahead of the deadline, with well over 1,500 companies reporting in the last day alone. 78% pay men more than they pay women. 14% pay women more and 8% report no pay gap at all.

they include places like kfc and mcdonald's. the median pay gap is 9.7%. so what does this mean on a sector by sector basis? well, there is no sector that pays women more than men: the construction is the sector with the biggest pay gap — at 24.8%. followed by finance & insurance — 22.2%, then education — that's a 19.9% pay gap. household employers is the sector with the smallest pay gap at 0.6%. barclays tops the list with the biggest median pay gap — at 43.5% — followed by lloyds at 42.7%. if you want to find out the median gender pay gap at your company, then head to our website:. and try out our pay gap calculator.

from gender pay, to gaming... you're also focusing today on efforts to make london the gaming capital of the world. yes, this is a huge business. the uk is one of the largest video games market, by consumer revenue, and there was the tax break that was introduced so it has become even more significant for the firms that make the games. joining us now is drjo twist obe, the ceo of uk interactive entertainment — the uk games industry's governing body. it really has changed, the finance model, there are many more games that are free but they make money from those in game purchases, is this a growing trend? yes, it is an innovation led industry and we like to innovate in business models and how we give players millions of players, billions across the world,

enjoyment out of their favourite games. this innovation in business models and micro—purchasing and transactions has driven the industry in different ways. it means these games have become ever more addictive, like one that is called fortnight, developed by epic games, which is free to play, and would you say they are trying to make it as addictive as possible? there's no such thing as video game addiction, people should be balanced in the way they play games, as they should be in the amount of books they read and the tv programmes they watch. the industry likes to innovate and give consumers more of what they want and all these in game purchasing models are optional and we have robust age ratings and parental controls to

make sure that kind of thing and feature can be completely controlled by parents and carers, and there is information online about that. we have spoken about the gender pay gap and there are few companies in the gaming sector which have a gender pay gap which is significantly higher than the national average. what efforts are you seeing to address this balance? this festival is about celebrating fantastic industry we have, notjust in london, but for the breadth of companies up and down the country, more than 2000 games companies in the uk, i'm verdi is that shining the uk, i'm verdi is that shining the international spotlight —— and really it is about shining the international spotlight. the games industry only has 19% women at the moment and they reveal across—the—board moment and they reveal across—the— board what we moment and they reveal across—the—board what we already know, games are played by one in three people regularly and half the audience is female and the average

age is 30 something, but we need more female and diverse creators in the industry because we rely on diversity for innovation and creative ante. this festival is curated by a female, highlighting the creators and developers from black and asian backgrounds and we also have a women in games event, with top women in the industry. we have a family friendly experiment at somerset house which is too rated by a couple of women, as well, and women and diversity in general is critical to our industry and that is what we want to showcase at this festival. thanks forjoining us. i've got a nephew who sits there and plays fortnight for hours. it is difficult to persuade teenagers to come off it. yes, there is no such

thing as addiction... anyway. anything else? yes, well, you've not seen much of us today because of breaking news, so i wanted to flag up a couple of stories from the website. thousands of google employees have signed an open letter asking the internet giant to stop working on a project for the us military. project maven involves using artificial intelligence to improve the precision of military drone strikes. employees fear google's involvement will "irreparably damage" its brand. an auction of frequencies for the next generation of mobile phone networks has raised £1.36bn, says regulator 0fcom. vodafone, ee, 02 and three all won the bandwidth needed for the future 5g mobile internet services, which are not expected to be launched until 2020. it is expected that 5g will provide much faster connections than the current system. spanish police have arrested

a whistleblower convicted in switzerland for sending thousands of hsbc clients' secret bank details to tax authorities. back in 2015, a swiss court sentenced the french national, herve falciani, to five years in jail for industrial espionage. he had fled to france from geneva in 2009. he had worked in the it department at hsbc‘s swiss private banking unit. and mr falciani said he wanted to expose massive tax evasion via swiss accounts. was anyone prosecuted ? was anyone prosecuted?” was anyone prosecuted? i don't know whether anyone has been prosecuted but there was a big investigation at the time. it seems as though there has been a lot focused on him and the fact he released these details. ok. the fact he released these details. 0k. markets? the fact he released these details. ok. markets? the ftse 100 the fact he released these details. ok. markets? the ftse100 is out. most of them have bounced back because fears have faded that there could be a massive trade war between the us and china. will consider tree

remarks made by president trump but it has been pretty volatile —— more and said we don't yet know about the retail sector. still looking for a live there for brands like bargain booze. thanks forjoining us. that's all the business news. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. after the turbulent weather we have had lately, today makes a present change, plenty of sunshine which will stay until the early evening across central and eastern areas, but more cloud out west, the breeze strengthening. there will be rain across northern ireland and the western side of scotland and maybe snow over the high ground. further east, clear spells, it snow over the high ground. further east, clearspells, it will turn relatively cold, cold enough for a

touch of frost. tomorrow, rain in northern ireland and western scotla nd northern ireland and western scotland and the far west of england and wales but further east spells of sunshine. it will be breezy but the breeze coming from the south will be a mild wind direction so if these quys a mild wind direction so if these guys are bright temperatures could reach maybe 17 —— if the skies. a5 we head into the weekend, a mixed bag of weather, summer sunshine and some rain at times and patchy mist and fog as well. —— some sunshine. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 4: in a statement from her hospital bed, yulia skripal — poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury along with her father — says she is getting stronger ‘daily‘. the russian ambassador to the uk again denies his country's involvement in the attack, and points the finger at britain. we have a lot of suspicions about britain, you know. if you take the last, say, ten years, so many russian citizens died here in the uk under very strange circumstances. rising concern about the murder

rate in the capital, as two men die in separate attacks in east london. there is something going on. it is extremely serious, and it needs an urgent response. refusing to change his status — mark zuckerberg says he's still the right person to lead facebook, despite the ongoing data sharing row. f5=15=1:——n— ,.,,_, agezsxzzs gas all the sport with will. the latest from the commonwealth games. england win six gold to top the medal table on the first day of the medal table on the first day of the commonwealth games in australia. we will have that and all the news from the masters, tiger woods just teeing off, and a manyonga menu is leading the way. —— a man younger than you, simon, is leading the way. still up and about? and springtime? yes, the temperatures will continue

to decline into the weekend, i can't promise as much sunshine but i will have all the details for you in an hour. thanks, ben. also coming up... # breaking rocks in the hot sun # no sweet harmony for the derbyshire police male voice choir — we find out why they've changed their name in nationwide at 4.30. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. yulia skripal — who was poisoned alongside her father sergei in salisbury last month — has said that her "strength is growing daily". the news came soon after russia tv aired a recording of an alleged phone conversation, which it says took place between m5 skripal and her cousin. meanwhile, russia's

ambassador to the uk, alexander yakovenko, has branded the foreign secretary borisjohnson's claims about the salisbury attack "unacceptable". he said moscow was keen to hear yulia skripal's side of the story. the statement from yulia skripal was released this afternoon and says: "i woke up over a week ago now and am glad to say my strength is growing daily. "i am grateful for the interest in me and for the many messages of goodwill that i have received. "i have many people to thank for my recovery and would especially like to mention the people of salisbury that came to my aid when my father and i were incapacitated. "i am sure you appreciate that the entire episode is somewhat disorientating, and i hope that you'll respect my privacy and that of my family during the period of my convalescence." 0ur news correspondent lucinda adam is in salisbury. a remarkable recovery seems to be on the cards here. that's right. it is

just over a month since yulia and her father sergei just over a month since yulia and herfather sergei were just over a month since yulia and her father sergei were found collapsed on the bench in the city centre. they have been doing their recovery here at salisbury district hospital. we didn't have much information, only that they were in a critical but stable condition, then a small glimmer of hope that yulia was apparently a week and talking, then today, and we don't haveit talking, then today, and we don't have it verified but apparently a phone conversation with her sister in russia and now this statement released through the met police, which she doesn't give much away or make much, apart from thanking the people of salisbury and the staff who treated her here for recovery. what do we read into what she says in this unverified phone call about her father's condition? well, we've been told so far from the hospital that her father remains in a critical but stable condition. we have not had any indication of an improvement, however in the conversation apparently with her

cousin, she is said to have said sergei is all right. she said, " everyone sergei is all right. she said, "everyone is recovering," both her and herfather, "everyone is recovering," both her and her father, everyone "everyone is recovering," both her and herfather, everyone survived. and is said to have told her cousin, no irreparable harm has been done to either of them. she says for herself she hopes she may be discharged from the hospital soon. lucinda adams in salisbury, thank you very much. the russian ambassador to the uk, alexander yakovenko, has been holding a news conference in london. he said russia and the skripals wanted to know the truth. we want to establish the truth, and i am quite sure that sergei and yulia skripal would also like to know, you know, what happened to them, who did this. and in order to have these answers, we have to investigate. but for the time being no investigation is happening. so that's why, you know — it could be me or somebody else, it could be anybody from the russian side — we want to establish the truth. and i think since then, at least what we hear,

that yulia is in good health now — she could probably answer some questions, from her side. i mean, on the questions that we put to the foreign office, and there are something like around 40 of them, so basically these are the questions, you know, we want to hear. but from a personal point of view, we are really sorry for them. these are our people, and i'm going to meet personally viktoria skripal, when she is going to come to london, in orderjust to have a good conversation with her and offer any help we can make, you know, to offer her everything. that is at least my goal. the ambassador went on to deny that russia was behind the poisoning, and mrjohnson's claim that moscow had stockpiled the nerve agent, novichok. borisjohnson. "russia has investigated delivering nerve agents,

"likely, for assassination, and as part of this programme, "has produced in a stockpile small quantities of novichok. " i like the word "likely." i like the words "highly likely." maybe it is clever. but what i want to say, that, first of all, it's not true. this is first. and that — let's say statement — is not supported by any evidence. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale has this assessment of the ambassador's words. russia, the ambassador said, had no involvement in the salisbury attack. he said it had not, as we heard,

russia had not even made novichok nerve agent, as the rest of the international community believes it has. the ambassador insisted russia was not isolated, despite the fact that many many countries have supported the united kingdom in both expelling russian diplomats, but also in votes in key international institutions such as yesterday at the chemical weapons watchdog at the hague, the 0pcw, where an attempt by russia to basically have a joint investigation with the uk into the salisbury incident was resoundingly defeated. by 15 votes to six. what we have seen today is continuing defiance, a continuing attempt by the russian state to get onto the propaganda front foot. there is, as you say, an information battle going on. earlier this week the uk was on the back that because of the confusion caused by the interview by the head of porton down. since then what we have seen, the russians

using what they called an emergency meeting at the chemical weapons watchdog yesterday, holding a news conference in the uk, then later on today in new york they are calling a session of the united nations security council, in other words using every means they can to step up using every means they can to step up both support for their argument, the russian position, and also what they see as questioning and challenging of the british position. call co nsta ntly challenging of the british position. call constantly during that one and a half hour news conference for evidence and facts, franco is something many people could do with. this is perhaps the weakness in the british are coming at the moment. we don't know what they seem to be telling others? -- the british argument at the moment. well, what we know, what the russians are looking for, they want access to the samples of the chemical weapons, the nerve agent, the novichok. they want com plete nerve agent, the novichok. they want complete access to the police investigation. well, i have to say, even the metropolitan police doesn't share its investigations with other

nations as easily as that. i think what we are act, the state we are out at the moment, the investigations are continuing, particularly investigations by the chemicals weapons watchdog. that will report we think sometime in the next couple of weeks. certainly, the watchdog says it will reach some sort of conclusion next week. the russians are saying that they will not trust that conclusion, unless russian investigators are involved in the process. at the moment the 0pcw basically is supposed to be an independent body that does things independently. it keeps the identity and nationality of its investigators private, so nobody knows which country is looking at which were these people come from. the russians are effectively saying, look, we will not trust the results of this investigation unless russian investigators are involved in the process. at the moment that is something the 0pcw is resisting. that was james landale, talking to me from outside the russian embassy. the mayor of london,

sadiq khan, has blamed cuts in police budgets and youth services — for an increase in violent crime in the capital. he was speaking after two men were killed yesterday. one of them has been named as israel 0gun5ola. the latest killings bringing the total number of suspected murders in the city to more than 50 since the start of the year. two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after an 18—year—old was stabbed to death in hackney in north east london. john mcmanus reports from there. it was near the spotjust before 8pm last night that police officers were flagged down by a motorist. here in link street, they found an 18—year—old suffering from stab wounds. despite administering first aid and calling in the london air ambulance, they were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead at the scene just before 8:30. police say they have arrested two 17—year—old5 on suspicion of murder. meanwhile on the same day, not far away, a 53—year—old man died

outside this bookmaker‘s, after what police suspect was a fight. another man fled the scene. police are looking for him and appealing for witnesses. but it is families that are being torn apart in this epidemic of violence. on monday, 16—year—old amaan shakoor was shot in the face in walthamstow, north—east london. he died the next day. and 17—year—old tanesha melbourne was also gunned down this week in what appears to be a drive—by shooting. the latest figures on homicides make stark reading. 52 people have died in violent circumstances since the start of the year. 34 of those were stabbings. seven people died from gunshot wounds. and amongst the victims, 11 teenagers, though many in their 405 have also died. police have stepped up patrols, but some locals here in hackney are nervous. i don't really see much police presence. i think they are just dealing directly with calls and incidents they get. in regards to atually seen police officers walking down the street, i can probably count on my hand in the last four years, the number of times i have seen that. the local mp believes that cuts

in policing may have contributed to the problem. here in hackney we have lost one in four police officers since 2010. it is impossible to deal with gang crime, knife crime, gun crime, unless you have the right level of neighbourhood policing. but law enforcement can't solve things on their own — we need to work with schools, social workers, mental health services. the met police say they understand how alarmed the local community are, but they insist the only way to fully tackle violent crime is for the community to work with them. 0ur correspondent simonjones is in hackney in north east london. what is the latest? what are the police saying, simon? the police say they are stepping up patrols and they are stepping up patrols and they are stepping up patrols and they are determined to make sure people feel safe, and to tackle the violence. but people here want

reassuring. here in hackney you can see behind me what is becoming an all too familiar scene on the streets of london, another police forensic tent marking the spot where teenager lost his life yesterday evening. we have also had a steady strea m evening. we have also had a steady stream of people bringing flowers to mark the life lost, many of those in tea rs, mark the life lost, many of those in tears, comforting each other. people do want reassurance here. what makes people worried, not only was there the incident here, but then a couple of miles away earlier yesterday there was another fatal stabbing, and we have also heard today at lunch time there was another stabbing of a man in his 205 in waltha mstow, stabbing of a man in his 205 in walthamstow, not thought to be life—threatening. politicians have been quick to speak out. for example, the mp for tottenham, david lammy, talking about the capital being in crisis. parents worried when they say goodbye to their children at the start of the day, not knowing whether they

are actually going to see them again. the mayor of london has described the stabbings here is heartbreaking. he denies the met police have lost control of the situation but he is very much pointing the figure at budget cuts within the police, saying it necessarily has a consequence. a5 within the police, saying it necessarily has a consequence. as i say, increasing patrols with the met police and we are waiting to see what the home office has to say, but it isa what the home office has to say, but it is a difficult issue to tackle. evenif it is a difficult issue to tackle. even if you flood the streets with extra police, the reality is you have to tackle what may lie behind this violence and many are pointing to the gang culture, which is not something that can be easily addressed. the problem is with headlines like this, and increased rates of murder, people potentially will feel the need to carry knives, and that could add to the situation spiralling. simon, thank you, simon jones, from hackney. joining me now is edward gyima, who knows more about this than most.

you have served time. can you tell us more about it, when you fall off the tracks? you feel sort of isolated. i didn't feel any one got me, and... how old were you then? and what was your family situation? i was fairly young, i would say even before age ten, you know. my family setup was good. my mother and father we re setup was good. my mother and father were at home with my siblings, they didn't break up while i was broke doing a growing up. nothing new. at the time i would say because i wasn't educated in certain things myself, i was open to all sorts of suggestions. just getting into how this happens,

what did you do after school when you went... did you go home? lots of people have lots of use. the best way to put it as i like to look at things in analogies. for mean, if you have a garden and someone says, you have a garden and someone says, you could have the most beautiful garden you would like, but the only price to pay is you have to consciously attend, tends to that guarding, however if you stop that you are now open to the elements of the world, as it were, and any sort of weed or whatever could take root there. how vulnerable where you? presumably it was others who led you into this life, and you ended up in prison. sure. the bottom line is i was not in a place of belonging. i didn't feel i belong at home, so to speak, so i had to sort of look for other sources where i could feel like i belonged, basically. a place

where i felt at home, so to speak. not a gang as such but other young men? of course. people use all sorts of different types of words, but for me it was never a kind of gang thing, it wasjust me it was never a kind of gang thing, it was just as human me it was never a kind of gang thing, it wasjust as human beings we are social creatures, you know, so naturally if somebody is by themselves, they are going to want to look to find someone to hang around with. at what point does that become criminal? at what point... i don't know if it was guns or knives you were involved with...” don't know if it was guns or knives you were involved with... i think it is sort of, as you grow up you see so many stories about young black males, and you hear so many things, and a condoms were because you don't see anything about... anything else other than young black males, crying, this, that, you start to believe maybe this is what i am because it is all i ever hear, you know? that is only because i didn't

guard myself against suggestions that were not helpful to me. at the time, what would have put you back on the right track? getting the right education, getting the right knowledge, you know. that is the foundation, having the right belief system. i presume your parents felt the same. you were still seeing them? sure, of course, but what you have to understand is that, i mean, no disrespect to my parents, i love them dearly, but when you grow up in a certain time you are conditioned to think a certain kind of way, and it is your responsibility to change your way of thinking, not down to anybody else. because my parents we re anybody else. because my parents were brought up with a certain way of thinking they sort of instilled that in me and because i did not resonate with that i have had to go and look for other... when you were

walking around, was an knives or guns in yourcase? walking around, was an knives or guns in your case? are both? me personally i didn't ever walk around with knives and guns. i have always been a decent sized lad and always felt i could protect myself. you hear a lot of particularly young black people, as you have been describing, saying that they are scared, they carry knives because of the others are carrying them and thatis the others are carrying them and that is why they do. is that what is going on? that is part of it, you know. if i was a young 15—year—old and left, right and centre your hearing these guys carry this, these quys hearing these guys carry this, these guys carry, you will think, maybe i should as well. itjust goes back to if you don't occupy your mind with the stuff you want, constructive things, you will get occupied with something else. you paid the price. you lost your freedom. sure. what the present each year, anything? you lost your freedom. sure. what the present each year, anything7m course, it taught me a lot of things. there are still things i am working on myself ——

things. there are still things i am working on myself -- what did prison teach you? i am human but i am learning to be a bit more patient. everything was now, now, now. sometimes that is still the case, sometimes not. the main thing i learned from prison is to take the time, if you take the time to educate yourself you can find the a nswe rs educate yourself you can find the a nswers to educate yourself you can find the answers to anything you want. looking at london right now, and it is not just looking at london right now, and it is notjust london, other cities, glasgow, manchester, many cities in this country. what do you think is going wrong? i think people are just being misguided. you have too many people in influence not using it correctly, you know. you have too many... these gang members, gang leaders, drug dealers? a lot of mr bigs around the country who are taking young men and taking them down this road. sure. i wouldn't even say that is the case, that there is not enough positive influence, that is the problem.

there is no standard person. i couldn't even name you probably... i can name ten rappers talking about making money, doing this, but! can't name you ten people right now who are household names giving the right sort of message. politicians? imean, right sort of message. politicians? i mean, politicians, with all due respect, they don't. .. i mean, politicians, with all due respect, they don't... there enough, they have the education, intellectual people and that, but they don't have the experience, you know. life is full of experiences, and as! know. life is full of experiences, and as i read a book —— if i read a book about e a and as i read a book —— if i read a book about 5:7? a i éeegrfiéeee—iéé? i a book it. because i have read a book about it. you have to go through the experiences and millionaire goes through in order to become one. it is the same with everything else. you can read so much, educate yourself, but if you don't go through the thick of it you might not come from the right point of view. how old are you now? 29. at

the age of 23 your life turned around. how did you do that?” the age of 23 your life turned around. how did you do that? i made the decision, you know. i was sick and tired of how my life was going, i was and tired of how my life was going, iwas in and tired of how my life was going, i was in and out of prison, you know. i was tired of it. i feel i am worth so much more, and ifeel that is the case with a lot of people, because there is a certain stigma on people that go to prison and so forth, but being on the other side of the door, have sat with people, spoken with people, and they are all good people, at least the majority of them are, it is just the don't know how to use what they have, you know. they use it in an incorrect way because the point is they have not been taught to use it in the correct way. one word also is a huge pa rt correct way. one word also is a huge part of your turnaround, she is expecting her first child any day now? any day now. do you feel perhaps your role now is to go out

and help young black people who are going through now what you went through them? you know what, first and foremost, it is not even so much and foremost, it is not even so much a black thing. there are misguided people of all colour and races, more ofa human people of all colour and races, more of a human thing. why is it mainly young black men ending up dead on the street? like i said, for the longest time, the majority of the time, when you hear something about a young black male, it is typically associated with something negative, and that is what the problem is. all you see is this, this, this, and eventually it will come, if that is what we are, i have to act like that now, and so the cycle continues. finally, if there is 13, now, and so the cycle continues. finally, if there i513, 14—year—old boy, maybe just getting finally, if there i513, 14—year—old boy, maybejust getting home, watching on the telly, who is at that point where they could go that way that way, what would you say to them? i would say, you know, believe

in yourdreams. them? i would say, you know, believe in your dreams. don't listen to the naysayers. just go for it. it will not be the easiestjourney. you will get knocked back, you will an get knock back more times than you can even coat, but regardless don't give up, just keep striving and prove everybody wrong. —— more times than you can count. good luck, because it is literally any bigger expecting your first baby. we wish you both well. thank you. after weeks of turmoil surrounding his company over the improper use of personal data, mark zuckerberg has insisted he is the right person to continue leading facebook. the company now says the british firm, cambridge analytica, may have used information from 87 million people — and more than a million of those affected were in the uk. rory cellan—jones reports. he's been under siege, as the scandal grows overjust how much data facebook gathers from more than 2 billion users, and where it ends up. last night, in a conference call with journalists, mark zuckerberg admitted how much his company had got wrong.

we didn't do enough. we didn't focus enough on preventing abuse and thinking through how people could use these tools to do harm as well, and that goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, hate speech, in addition to developers and data privacy. we didn't take a broad enough view of what our responsibilities are and that was a huge mistake. it was my mistake. the current scandal began with a personality quiz app, which delivered facebook data to the political consultancy cambridge analytica. facebook now says up to 87 million people were affected, mostly in the united states. in the uk, there were just 1000 downloads of the personality app, but because it scooped up all of their friends' data as well, 1 million people here could be affected. over half the adult population in the uk use facebook, so has anyone been put off by the latest revelations?

it definitely has made me think about quitting facebook. it's definitely a worry in terms of what my data is being used for. i don't think quitting facebook will be an option for now. i'm somewhat addicted to facebook, in all honesty, and it's so influential across all generations. jenny tennison believes sharing data can prove beneficial, but says facebook users need more control. what's problematic i think still is that it seems to be facebook making all the decisions about what should be made available, about which organisations can have access to it, and about checking up on whether those organisations are doing the right things with that data as well. mark zuckerberg insisted last night that he was still the best person to lead facebook and would learn from his mistakes, but with australia's privacy commissioner the latest regulator to investigate the company, his job is only going to get harder. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. we've just been talking about gun

and knife crime in the capital particularly after the latest murder figures reached 50 in this year alone. the home office hasjust put out a statement. "all forms of violence are totally unacceptable. this government is taking action to restrict access to weapons, as well as working to break the deadly cycle of violence and protect our children and communities." it says the uk has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and we are determined to keep it that way. "we are already consulting on new laws on dangerous and offensive weapons including banning online stores from delivering nights to residential addresses, and making it offences to possess certain weapons and file —— certain weapons in private." they talk about moving people away from violence whilst continuing to ensure their strongest possible law enforcement response. it also talks later in the statement about how figures need to be put in offensive, and that overall firearm offences in this country is on a continuing

long—term downward trend. more on that a little later on. we had that news co nfe re nce that a little later on. we had that news conference from the russian ambassador to london a little earlier. borisjohnson, ambassador to london a little earlier. boris johnson, the ambassador to london a little earlier. borisjohnson, the foreign secretary, has been tweeting and he has put out this tweet in the last few moments, talking about taking the whole issue of the nerve agent attack in salisbury to the un security council. there we go. he said "russia failed to persuade the ocpw said "russia failed to persuade the 0cpw yesterday that the chief suspect should join an investigation of attempted assassinations in salisbury. he said today's and because the role the un security council into their disinformation campaign, and he says the world will see through this shameless cynicism. that was boris johnson see through this shameless cynicism. that was borisjohnson reacting once again after the russian ambassador mentioned borisjohnson's again after the russian ambassador mentioned boris johnson's comment yesterday, and said his facts were wrong, although boris johnson

yesterday, and said his facts were wrong, although borisjohnson is on the offensive there, with that tweet in the last few minutes. don't forget, you can let us know what you think — tweet us using the hashtag afternoonlive. all the ways to contact us on screen right now. time for a look at the weather. here's ben. for the first in this year, i felt some warmth. i think it is that day when everyone goes out and things, spring has actually arrived. it has been a while since we have had a day like this where all four corners of the uk have seen sunny skies. weather watchers have been taking pictures so i thought i would take some time to show you a few. itjust warms the heart to see it, doesn't it? it does. this is intent. the sort of weather where you want to go to the beach, about 12—13 degrees. fine, if we could just see the sun!

exactly, and we have been seeing it everywhere. this is county down in northern ireland, beautiful scene there. i have another one from wales. this one is from conway... and this is from dolwyddelan, something like that. man u have been rehearsing at all our! yes, and this one in glenrothes, snow still lying one in glenrothes, snow still lying on the ground. the satellite images are interesting because in scotland and england, are the high ground, thatis and england, are the high ground, that is not actually cloud but the snow lying on the ground at the moment. if you really watch closely you can see that actually dwindling a bit of the day has gone on, melting. continuing to do so and for most that has been a story of sunshine. i have something for you now. i knew this was coming! and this is not the first time we have seen this dog. he was wearing full

outfit earlier, but now he his swimsuit on! we still don't know what he is cold, though. i hope andy watches this. —— we still don't know his name. yes, do let smile on 2.11.2; ;fi;...;;; lil; li if smile on your 2.11.2; ;fi;...;;; lil; li if smile on yourface. i; ;fi;...;;; lil; li if smile on yourface. 15 i444?! 5717—1 75 f 7, was w’cflfl f ” ' : 1: 512: was up_ zlilézé’i fgii; w5. liz; li if